Published on 9 October 2023
FOURTH SECTION
Application no. 83345/17
Volodymyr Andriyovych MIROSHNYK against Russia
and 12 other applications
(see list appended)
communicated on 2 September 2023
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applications originate from the conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation when the latter asserted its jurisdiction over Crimea in 2014. It concerns, among other things, the allegedly unlawful conviction and subsequent detention of the applicants. Most of the applicants are serving their prison sentences in correctional detention facilities on the territory of Russia.
The applicant in application no. 83345/17 complains, inter alia, under Article 5 of the Convention that his detention after his conviction by Russian courts in Crimea and according to Russian law on 10 February 2017, which was confirmed on appeal on 31 May 2017, was unlawful, as the decisions convicting him had not been delivered by a competent court.
The applicant in application no. 27716/21 also alleges a violation of Article 6 of the Convention, namely that the Russian courts in Crimea which examined his case were not independent and impartial tribunals established by law since those courts applied the substantive and procedural laws of Russia in violation of Ukrainian laws.
In addition, the applicant in application no. 10262/18 complains that his conviction breached his rights under Article 7 of the Convention due to the lack of foreseeability and certainty of the law which was applied in his case and which led to his conviction.
Furthermore, in application no. 47073/19, the applicant alleges that his imprisonment on the territory of Russia, far away from his home and family in Crimea, violates his right to respect for his family life under Article 8 of the Convention.
Lastly, referring, inter alia, to Article 3 of Protocol no. 4 to the Convention the applicants in all applications, except for applications nos. 10262/18 and 27716/21, complain that they were transferred from Crimea to the detention facilities in the Russian Federation to serve their sentences. Thus, the applicants state that they, being Ukrainian nationals, were expelled from the territory of their State. Moreover, referring to Article 14 of the Convention in conjunction with Article 3 of Protocol no. 4 thereto, the applicant in application no. 6315/22 also alleges that he was treated as a Russian national notwithstanding the fact that he was in fact a Ukrainian national on “the occupied territory”, and he alleges that this represented a discriminatory treatment.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Have the applicants complied with the admissibility requirements set forth in Article 35 of the Convention?
2. Was the applicant in application no. 83345/17 deprived of his liberty in breach of Article 5 § 1 (a) of the Convention? In particular, as regards the judgment against him delivered by Russian courts in Crimea, which was upheld on appeal, was the applicant convicted by a “competent court” within the meaning of Article 5 § 1 (a) of the Convention?
To that end, did the decision taken by the courts in the applicant’s case comply with the requirement of lawfulness within the meaning of Article 5 of the Convention (see, mutatis mutandis, Mozer v. the Republic of Moldova and Russia [GC], no. 11138/10, § 150, 23 February 2016)?
3. Did the applicant in application no. 27716/21 have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charges against him by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention?
4. Did the relevant provisions on the basis of which the applicant in application no. 10262/18 was convicted fulfil the qualitative requirements under Article 7 of the Convention (see Scoppola v. Italy (no. 2) [GC], no. 10249/03, § 99, 17 September 2009)?
5. As regards application no. 47073/19, was the applicant’s transfer to the detention facility in Russia compatible with the guarantees of Article 8 of the Convention?
6. Were the applicants, Ukrainian nationals, who raise complaints under this provision, expelled from the territory of their State, in breach of Article 3 § 1 of Protocol No. 4 and/or Article 8 of the Convention?
7. Has the applicant in application no. 6315/22 suffered discrimination in the enjoyment of his rights under Article 3 § 1 of Protocol No. 4 contrary to Article 14 of the Convention?
8. Finally, did the alleged acts which gave rise to the applicants’ complaints have a basis in “law” within the meaning of the Convention provisions relied on by them?
APPENDIX
List of applications
No.
Application no.
Case name
Lodged on
Applicant
Year of Birth
Place of Residence
Nationality
Represented by
1.
83345/17
Miroshnyk
v. Russia
27/11/2017
Volodymyr Andriyovych MIROSHNYK
1978
Kochubeyevske
Ukrainian
Roman
Yuriyovych MARTYNOVSKYY
2.
83358/17
Chudesenko v. Russia
03/12/2017
Andrey Vladimirovich CHUDESENKO
1982
Zverevo
Ukrainian
Roman
Yuriyovych MARTYNOVSKYY
3.
1604/18
Cherepnin
v. Russia
23/10/2017
Ruslan
Nikolayevich CHEREPNIN
1980
Novyy Sad
Ukrainian
4.
10262/18
Farin
v. Russia
16/02/2018
Oleg
Petrovych
FARIN
1967
Sevastopol
Ukrainian
Sergiy
Anatoliyovych ZAYETS
5.
35241/18
Ponomaryov v. Russia
14/07/2018
Sergiy Volodymyrovych PONOMARYOV
1986
Saratov
Ukrainian
Sergiy
Anatoliyovych ZAYETS
6.
8819/19
Limeshko
v. Russia
05/02/2019
Gennadiy Gennadyevich LIMESHKO
1992
Dydymkin
Ukrainian
Roman
Yuriyovych MARTYNOVSKYY
7.
11285/19
Yakimenko v. Russia
15/02/2019
Vladimir Grigoryevich YAKIMENKO
1984
Pugachev
Ukrainian
Roman
Yuriyovych MARTYNOVSKYY
8.
29244/19
Panov
v. Russia
24/04/2019
Yevgen Oleksandrovych PANOV
1977
Energodar
Ukrainian
Anastasiya Romanivna MARTYNOVSKA
9.
47073/19
Balukh
v. Russia
09/08/2019
Volodymyr Grygorovych BALUKH
1971
Serebryanka
Ukrainian
Mykhaylo Oleksandrovych TARAKHKALO
10.
27716/21
Kolomiychuk v. Russia
27/04/2021
Andrey
Anatolyevich KOLOMIYCHUK
1972
Razdolnoye
Ukrainian
11.
32584/21
Fedorov
v. Russia
26/05/2021
Igor
Yuryevich FEDOROV
1984
Astrakhan
Ukrainian
12.
33340/21
Buteskul
v. Russia
10/06/2021
Aleksandr Fedorovich BUTESKUL
1977
Astrakhan
Ukrainian
13.
6315/22
Byelov
v. Russia
21/01/2022
Oleksandr Volodymyrovych BYELOV
1969
Volgograd
Ukrainian
Sergiy Anatoliyovych ZAYETS